In tennis games, as in racquetball and other types of games that are played with a racket, the participant is normally faced with the problem of retaining the racket in his hand without losing the racket or having it twist in the hand due to impact with a ball moving at relatively high velocity. In either event, the grip on the racket, and, consequently, the angle of swing, are constantly changing as a result of impact of the racket with the ball, thus resulting in inconsistent games.
Additionally, gripping problems are frequently a result of a person suffering from injury or a stroke. It is not uncommon for a person suffering from a stroke to lose the use of the gripping ability in his or her hands. In order to restore the use of the arms and hands, therapy, including lifting exercises, is often prescribed. However, to participate in such exercises, it is necessary that the afflicted person be capable of gripping and retaining the exercise device (weight, for example) during the exercise period. Such gripping, of course, is not possible by one who has lost use of his or her hands.
Similarly, persons who have lost use of one or both hands are confronted with gripping problems for such daily activities as eating wherein it is necessary that the individual be capable of gripping the eating utensils in order to feed themselves. Without the gripping capability to hold a utensil, other means must be resorted to.
Furthermore, persons (particularly elderly persons) who have lost some gripping power in their hands may find it difficult to perform small tasks or hobbies such as firmly holding garden tools, etc., in their hands while working in the garden. In such cases, the person must give up the pleasure of gardening or device a means of providing the gripping capability to perform the necessary tasks.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a glove for securely retaining an object in the user's hand.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a glove with gripping means for providing a variable predetermined pressure on the gripped object.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a glove with such gripping means for releasably securing the object in the user's hand.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a glove which will securely retain a racket in a user's hand while preventing angular displacement of the racket even after tremendous impact of the racket with a ball or the like, such as encountered in tennis and racquetball.